About Chris

“My desire to paint wildlife, particularly birds, stems from a deep fascination and respect for the natural world and a wish to share my excitement for the subject through my paintings. I am inspired by the light, colours, textures and patterns which are found in nature, even in the most ordinary and often overlooked corners of the landscape.”

Born in Uganda in 1959, where I lived until the age of six, I soon developed what would become a life-long interest in the natural world.

This fascination joined forces with a passion for drawing and painting at an early age when I started seeing the work of great wildlife painters, such as Archibald Thorburn, in books collected by my father. Further inspired by the many fabulous paintings that used to appear on the covers of the RSPB’s Birds magazine I began painting wildlife.

On graduating from Nottingham University with a Biology degree, but unable to find work as a biologist, I was offered a one year contract as an illustrator for the Dorset Heritage Coast Project. This year convinced me that painting was the only thing I would ever want to do (apart from be a fighter pilot, obviously) and so, with a second-hand drawing board (which I still use) and a bunch of paints, I embarked on a career as a wildlife artist.

Over the last 30 years I have exhibited widely in the UK, both in group shows and solo exhibitions, and have had work shown in Paris, Singapore, Japan and the USA.

In January 2010 I spent 5 weeks on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia with fellow wildlife artist John Gale on a self-funded expedition, drawing and painting the wildlife and landscapes to raise funds and awareness for the RSPB’s Save the Albatross Campaign. As an invited artist I have also participated in several international conservation projects with the Artists for Nature Foundation (ANF) in Poland, Spain, Peru and Ecuador.